Triumph TR3A Competition Roadster, 1958
Triumph TR3 I(A)
Triumph TR3 I(A)•
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Chassis No.: TS312490
Engine No.: TS31728
Estimate: £120,000 - £165,000 GBP
- Purchased new by 'Bill' de Selincourt
- Extensive in-period competition history
- Outright winner of the Brooklands Memorial Trophy at Goodwood (1959)
- Professionally restored by Racetorations 2015-2017
- Little used since restoration
The factory had entered the TR series in competitions almost from the start of TR2 production, concentrating mainly on international rallying and long-distance classics such as Le Mans and the Mille Miglia while leaving its customers to fly the flag on short circuits. One of the latter was Rodney Wilfred (Bill) de Selincourt, who purchased this TR3A on 21st May 1958 with the intention of racing the car, primarily at Goodwood.
An enthusiastic and talented gentleman driver, Bill de Selincourt competed at Brooklands in 1939 and is notable as the first Briton to win a continental Formula Junior race (at Cahours in 1959), trouncing a field containing five past and future Formula 1 World Championship drivers. He also won the Motor Sport Trophy and the Autosport Championship, and in the early 1960s twice placed 2nd in class at the Nürburgring 1,000km. Clearly he was no slouch. Taking a break from racing mid-decade, Bill returned in the 1970s, racing his TR3A and an E-Type in Modsports events. He passed away on 11th October 2014 in his 94th year, the last surviving driver to have lapped the original Brooklands circuit.
Following his purchase of the TR3A, Bill raced the car extensively over the next two years, culminating in winning the Brooklands Memorial Trophy outright in 1959 with '33 DNK', which is said to be the most successful non-works TR competition car anywhere. It is unclear when the TR acquired its modified nose (no photographs taken of it in 1958 seem to exist) but the car appeared in this new form at Goodwood in March 1959. Advertised as 'the fastest TR in the UK', '33 DNK' was sold in October 1959 to a T S Petersen and continued to be raced at club level but without its previous degree of success. Known to have been in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire in 1976, the '33 DNK' then disappeared for almost 20 years before turning up as a 'barn find' in France in the 1990s.
The TR was purchased by marque specialists Racetorations, and from 2015 to 2017 was treated to a complete restoration to exacting standards, resulting in the beautifully presented car we see today. Since completion, '33 DNK' has seen very little use apart from track testing, and is described by the vendor as 'mechanically 100%'. The history file is extensive and contains the original buff logbook; a BMIHT Certificate; a current FIVA Identity Card; a full schedule and photographs of the restoration;
TR Action
article; and numerous old photographs and articles relating to the car's racing career.
